GINGERBREAD

I had planned to spend much of the year researching gingerbread recipes in preparation for this year’s Christmas advent project. To that end I have saved many gingerbread recipes to my Pinterest board. However, after the first few tries, I lost heart. No matter the recipe, the end product was dry. And I picked up on silent vibes from Mike that he wasn’t a fan of these experiments.

The topic still sparks my imagination, though, so I hadn’t quite given up. While shopping at Walmart recently, I picked up yet another jar of molasses, now available only in smaller quantities, it seems. That’s the way they keep you from realizing just how very expensive it is, I suspect.

Anyway, I decided not to check myself out, so I got in line at one of the manned registers. The cashier was friendly and chatty, and I never complain of a chatty cashier. I know that when it’s my turn, she’ll chat with me, too.

“What are you going to do with the molasses,” she asked. (I’m no judge of age, but I think it’s safe to say she fit my generation.)

“Gingerbread,” I responded.

“Mine is hard,” she said, matter-of-factly, and my ears pricked up.

“Hard? Do you mean dry,” I asked.

“Yes, dry and hard,” she said.

“I know what you mean,” I continued, “but I don’t think it’s supposed to be.”

“Oh! My mother makes wonderful gingerbread,” she said. Oh! Now she’s going to tell me what her mother says. I love to hear what the older generation has to say, but you know how it is -- those folks are becoming scarce, and the implication is that I am now the older generation.

“So, what’s wrong with ours,” I asked. “Are we baking it too long?”

“That’s what my mother says,” she responded. “She says to cut the heat and take it out sooner.”

And remember – this happened at Walmart. You just never know . . .

So, yesterday afternoon I made gingerbread again using Betty Crocker’s recipe for “Old-fashionedGingerbread.” As per the directions, I set the oven at 325 rather than the usual 350. And at 50 minutes, I removed it, even though my inclination was to bake that extra five minutes. This one was nice and moist, and Mike has said several times that it’s delicious.

The recipe called for a teaspoon of ginger and a teaspoon of cinnamon. We like it spicy, so I added a little more ginger and ¼ teaspoon of cloves. I’m a big fan of cloves. KW